Chronicle Covers: The Titanic’s sinking, more than a century later

The Chronicle’s front page from April 16, 1912, covers the sinking of the Titanic.

Photo: Chronicle File

Two thousand, two hundred and twenty-four people boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. A little more than four days later, 705 were pulled from the Atlantic Ocean after the great steamer hit an iceberg.

The Chronicle’s front page from April 16, 1912, covers the sinking of the Titanic about 375 miles south of Newfoundland and the hundreds of passengers who died that night.

“More than 1,500 souls, men, women and children, were lost, it is feared, in the wreck of the White Star liner Titanic, latest and greatest ship of the seas, which collided with an iceberg at 10:25 o’clock Sunday night and sank off the banks of Newfoundland at 2:20 a.m. Monday, less than four hours after she had struck,” the story on The Chronicle’s front page reads.

The sinking remains one of the world’s worst maritime disasters. The story has gained near-mythical status thanks to the many mass-media works that depict the events, including the 1999 movie “Titanic,” which won a best picture Oscar.

The page properly conveys the scope of the tragedy. A photo of the ship itself, which was already a well-publicized marvel, is accompanied by a shot of Capt. Edward Smith and two images of rooms aboard the liner. The collage treatment was reserved for the biggest stories, and they don’t get much bigger than this.

“The deathbed of the $10,000,000 steamer Titanic and of probably many who must have been dragged down with her,” a short story on the page reads, “is two miles below the surface of the sea.”

That estimate was close. One hundred and four years later, the wreckage still rests at the floor of the Atlantic, some 12,400 feet down.

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